He looked so pathetic. So childish. So weak, broken down, and scared.

Colt had burried himself under a blanket in Lily's quarters. Was he seven, reliving the days of building forts with Codi under the dining room table? Or perhaps 13, and having a sluggish day around the house, lounging around in his pijamas and slippers. Maybe he was still a teen at heart, broken hearted over a crush, and drowing himself in self pity and self hatred.

Maybe he was all of the above. The most depressing thing was that, yes, he was sitting under the table. It was pathetic. Just pathetic.

Colton was having nightmares, and had come to Mommy for comfort. Only, he hadn't really bugged Lily. Instead, he brought his blanket out to the living room, and was sitting cross legged under a table holding papers and flowers, his blanket wrapped tightly around him. He was unkempt, his hair touselled and stubble on his chin and along his jawline. His eyes were half open and he blinked lathargically every once in a while.

He looked exhausted. Pathetic and exhausted. Perhaps he needed advice, as much as he needed to grow up.

But the nightmares weren't his reason for visiting. He wanted to apologize.

At 3 in the morning, he had come to sit up in a dark room so that, when Lily came home, woke up, whatever, he'd be there to apologize.

“Do you love me?” After all his pursuing, Boethius had managed to capture Lily alone. He grasped her arm in one great hand; pressed her against the wall of a narrow and dimly light hallway.

“Must you ask?” Instead of struggling against him, Lily slipped her free arm about his neck and pressed her forehead into his chest.

“Say it.”

“I love you endlessly and shamelessly.”

“Then get rid of him, please! I’ve learned my lesson; you’ve hurt me enough… I’ll be good, I promise.”

“It’s not that anymore, Boethius.” Lily drew herself from him like one denying herself of a treasure.

“What do you owe him? Your marriage was a lie. Lily, you have no obligations to the man. Send him from this place. Don’t you realize the power you have now? You are not a little mortal wife any more; you own a share of this city.”

“Stop it.” Lily removed herself from his grip and started to walk away from him.

“The man killed your children!” Bo called after her angrily.

Lily paused in her retreat, turned her head slightly to address him over her shoulder. “Carmine killed my children. And now I have new little ones to look after.”

“Has he threatened them? Lily, has he threatened the fledglings?”

Her only reply was the sharp click of her heels as she fled down the hallway away from him.

Hours later, Lily finally found herself in front of her own doors. She had hidden herself away in her office, but she wanted the sanctuary of her bed come daylight. She opened the door easily - it was rarely locked – and stepped inside. She could tell neither Brutus nor Boethius was there, and it pleased her to be alone.

She kicked off her shoes at the door and walked barefoot into her bedroom. A few moments later she returned wearing a dressing gown, her long hair braided down her back. She crossed the room and fell upon the couch, sighing with relief once her body hit the cushions.

It was only then that she realized she wasn’t really alone.

“Colton… Why are you under the table?” She asked plainly, wondering whether she should be patronizing him or not. She had seen Eric’s grief in the face of Hannah’s death, but not Colton’s. After he had curled up into his bed she had convinced Eric to go back to the Labyrinth, worried that another comatose state would descend upon him and it would be harder to get him home.

Colton heard the door open, and watched her enter. He watched her cross the room with a solemn expression. She didn't see him. Well, what did he expect? He was sitting under a table in a pitch black room. 'Course she didn't see him.

She walked into her bedroom, and Colt felt abandoned. Maybe he should shout for her? No... No, she deserved sleep. He sat quietly for a minute before digging himself deeper into his blanket. It covered him completely, leaving just his nose and eyes viewable. Colton heaved a sigh. Maybe he could fall asleep sitting.

It was around then that Lily came out of her room. Colton followed her with his eyes until she sat nearly before him. She looked confused to see him, and he smiled weakly up at her. Course, she couldn't see him attempting a smile. Didn't matter.

"It's a nice table," he said, his words muffled by the blankets.

Colton pulled the blanket down, exposing his face and further messing up his hair. "I wanted to apologize..." Colton's tone was sorrowful, and his voice soft. It was almost as if he was embarrassed to be there.

“Of course it’s a nice table, it cost me two thousand dollars.” Lily sat up, shifted her body around until she was sitting with her feet tucked underneath her, her head reclining on the back of the couch. “Come out from under there, please.” She moved the over-stuffed cushions next to her to create a place for him to sit. “What do you need to apologise for?”

In her mind, Colton had done no wrong, at least not recently. And with Hannah’s suicide now a reality instead of a threat, he could get away with almost anything. Lily was handling both her sons as if they were damaged.

Colton glanced up at the table, as if trying to judge it's worth from the less detailed side. He glanced back to Lily slowly. He was damaged. He was crushed inside, and Colton was all to familiar with the feeling of broken heartedness. He had dealt with it before by finding some new person to break his heart, but this time was different. This time, he didn't want to have to have his heart broken again.

"Ok..." Cotlon responded obediently, crawling out from under her table. He dragged his blanket with him, and curled up in it on her couch. He looked like a big ol' marshmallow. He looked warm. Perhaps he felt comforted.

He still looked pathetic.

"When you solved my problem for me... I... You're not my enemy... I'm sorry," he whispered. "And I'm sorry that I never thanked you... And I'm sorry that I can't stand up for myself... And I'm... I'm sorry for coming and bugging you."

Yup. Pathetic.

“When I do things for you I don’t expect thanks, Colton. I do them out of some twisted maternal sense…” She glanced down at the pillow she still held then pulled it close to herself, holding it tightly against her chest. She needed a shield, a source of strength, anything. She was tired and she hurt and she wanted to weep until morning, but to show that in front of this child who had come to her for comfort would not do.

So instead she managed a smile, though a thin one at best, and reached over to tuck his blanket better about his shoulders. “You aren’t bugging me, darling. If you were I’d tell you.”

Colton shook his head slightly. "You're not my mom... You don't need to do anything for me... But you do, so you should be thanked..." He was trying to reason with her; he was trying to give some merit to his visit.

Colt glanced over as Lily hugged the pillow towards herself. Seemed like no one was having a good night. He looked back down to his knees, absent-mindedly pulling a piece of lint from the blanket. Two people in their mid twenties, looking as sullen as teens. This night required a sappy romance movie and popcorn.

Colton smiled slightly as she tucked him in tighter, and glanced over to her. They sat in silence for a moment before Colton sighed.

"I'll go first," he stated. "Hannah's dead. She saved me from moaping over Jake too long. Now she's gone, and I'm being forced to deal with both of their deaths, and I can't deal with it..." His voice remained relatively stable, shakier towards the end, but without any hint that he would burst out sobbing. He was being strong right now. She wouldn't cry, and he wouldn't cry.

"Your turn."

“I played too many games. I tried to hurt Boethius by taking back Brutus, but now if I go back to Bo I think Brutus would do something awful.” She glanced down at her pillow, trying to hold her tears back with her eyelashes. “Hannah is dead. You and Eric are devastated. I’m worried about you both.”

Her voice was even, too, but her eyes were filled with tears which wouldn’t recede. “And I am tired of everything…” Once more her head leaned back to rest on the couch, almost as if it hadn’t the strength to hold itself up anymore.

“I win.” After a moment she closed her eyes and spoke again. “Hannah was the one that killed Jake, did you know? She wanted to tell you, once she found out. We didn’t let her. You might as well know now.”

Colton sat silently, gazing down at his knees. Colton found himself hating both Bo and Brutus. They killed Hannah. Since no one could give him an answer, he decided to be safe and hate them both, but right now... Right now, he liked Bo a hell of a lot more.

"Lil..." Colton crawled across the couch and sat next to her, trying to comfort her with a one armed hug and support for her weary soul. He chuckled slightly when she proclaimed her winnings, and tried to smile for her. Tried to be strong for her for one minute of his life... One lousy minute, because God knew she had been there for him, and, dammit, he was going to be there right back for this once.

"Hannah told me... Just before she threw herself out my window... And started dating Eric..." There was remorse in his voice. He still saw himself guilty for that. It was all his fault she chose Eric over him.

Colt removed his arm from Lily. He could only be comforting for so long...

“So she got the courage to defy us, hmm?” Lily asked slowly, almost in disbelief. “I never would have expected it of her.” She spoke with a bitter distaste of the dead woman, which Hannah’s murder had done little to erase. “And she never dated Eric. He took care of her, better than anyone… But she didn’t care about him.”

Lily sighed and stood up from the couch. She turned and placed the pillow she held where she had been sitting, straightened up the cushions in an effort to busy her hands. “But she’s dead, Colton. It’s pointless to talk about her. It doesn’t change anything. Has Stephen brought Celeste home yet?”

Colton nodded once, a slow, small nod. Sure. Courage to defy you. If she had been defying them, then they knew all along, and never told him. Now it was his turn to feel slightly betrayed. They could have told him. They could have saved him his current heartbreak.

"She acted like it..." Colton said. Regardless of her telling her whether or not Hannah had or hadn't dated Eric, Colton believed it for many reasons. Perhaps when Hannah told him she didn't care about Colton... Maybe that's why he believed that she had dated him Eric.

"Stephen brought her home two days ago... She wanted to spend the night with Michelle and Kayla tonight, and their mom wanted her to be there for Kayla's thrid birthday tomorrow..." Colton recited the events like boring history facts. It wasn't that he didn't care about Celeste... It was more that his mind was preoccupied.

“Colton, are you going to have a problem taking care of Celeste now?” Lily asked him sharply, noticing the dull way he listed off her whereabouts. “If you aren’t going to be able to do this I can’t leave her in your care.”

She either didn’t notice his sense of betrayal, or she just didn’t acknowledge it. But that was like Lily… She rarely explained her decisions or her actions. Her earlier confession to Colton had been an unlikely thing, pressed out of her tiredness and her pain.

But Celeste… Celeste was more important. And if Colton, in his grief and confusion, would be negligent, Lily would take the girl herself.

Colton felt like she was attacking him now, by her sharp tone and harsh words. He looked up to her, and sternly shook his head. "I didn't have to her entertain tonight. That's the only reason I'm here."

He stood himself, keeping his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He was in flannel pijama pants, thought he didn't seem to mind looking so informal.

"You don't need to step in, Lily... You can if you want, but I can take care of her..." He almost continued by telling her about why he was working for her anyway, by telling her why he had moved to their bigger apartment, by telling her all the pains he was going through to raise a mortal child by an immortal clock. Out of respect, he held his tongue, and kept his sten, albiet dowcast, look.

“I thought you came to apologise.” Lily said with a wry smile. “I’m not saying that you won’t look after her Colton. I’m just making sure you can. Don’t get upset at me, please.” She stared back at his stern look with large grey eyes, realizing for the first time that his greater height made her look up to him.

“It will get easier when she goes to school; when she’s more independent.” She moved from him to the desk in the corner of her room, and removed some papers from one of the drawers. “Which reminds me, I meant to give you these. It’s time to start thinking of her education. It’s never too early, you know.” The papers she handed to him were about elementary schools in the area, mostly private schools with only one or two public schools included.

“Now go to sleep. We both look like hell. I would like to be able to offer you the couch, but I wouldn’t in the fear Brutus will show up sometime before morning.”

"That too," Colton said, trying to attept to look humourous. It didn't work, and he went back to looking downtrodden. "And I'm not upset with you..." He wasn't, not with her. He just didn't want her to start believing he couldn't do it.

Colt looked over the papers silently, scanning each of them. "Thanks," he muttered, as he started flipping through the pages. He didn't like the idea of sending her to a private school. Just seemed so... So formal. Too formal, even, for a little girl. He was thinking about sending her to Demaitre Elementary, where he and Codi had gone. Plus, that was close. One of the private schools was closest... Maybe he'd have to consider sending her there.

Colton glanced up and smiled lightly. "You don't look like hell, Lil. You couldn't look like hell if you tried." It wasn't that she couldn't look like hell if she tried... Colton thought it to be more of a 'she'd have to try insanely hard to look horrible' thing, and she wouldn't waste her time on such. Colton tucked the papers under his arm and nodded. "I prefer my own bed, anyway."

Colton walked to the door and opened it, stepping out into the hall. He turned back and tried to smile once more. This time, it actually looked like a smile. "Thanks, Lily... And feel better... I know it sounds cliche, but things are bound to get better..."

And with that, Colton shut the door and let himself out of the casino, on his way home.